New Delhi:
With the appointment of Sourav Ganguly as the new BCCI president, a new era in cricket administration has begun in India. Ganguly, who will be appointed as the new BCCI president on October 23, has gotten massive support. However, it will be very interesting to see how Ganguly's equation with the current head coach of the Indian cricket team, Ravi Shastri, will be. In 2016, Ganguly and Shastri had a major falling-out when the former India captain, who was part of the Cricket Advistory Committee (CAC), was tasked with selecting the new head coach of the team following the exit of Duncan Fletcher.
Heading into the interview, everyone tipped Shastri to be the full-time head coach after he had a successful run as the Indian cricket team director. Ganguly, along with VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Jagdale were tasked to appoint the coach. There were reports that Ganguly was not in favour of Shastri being the coach.
Things took an ugly turn when there accusations from Shastri that a member of the committee, reportedly Ganguly, wasn't present and that was disrespectful to the selection process. At that time, Shastri was vacationing in Bangkok. However, Ganguly hit back stating that Shastri was living in a 'Fool's paradise' if he felt that he was responsible for him not being a coach. Anil Kumble was appointed the head coach but he resigned a year later after he termed his relationship with skipper Virat Kohli 'untenable' and Shastri returned.
The relationship between Ganguly and Shastri never recovered. In one episode of Breakfast With Champions, Shastri revealed an incident when he taught a punctuality lesson to Ganguly by leaving him behind in team’s hotel in Bangladesh, after the former Indian skipper was late. However, Ganguly rubbished the claims.
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A lot of water has flown under the bridge since the 2016 fiasco. Shastri and the Kohli duo have helped India establish a certain sense of dominance in all three formats. However, with Ganguly now at the top of the ladder and Shastri at the helm of the cricket team, it will be interesting to see how these two work together for the betterment of the Indian cricket side.
